Breidablik

Template:Short description Template:About Breiðablik (sometimes anglicised as Breithablik or Breidablik) is the home of Baldr in Nordic mythology.

MeaningEdit

The word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has been variously translated as 'broad sheen', 'Broad gleam', 'Broad-gleaming' or 'the far-shining one', Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

AttestationsEdit

GrímismálEdit

The Eddic poem Grímnismál describes Breiðablik as the fair home of Baldr:

Old Norse textTemplate:Sfn	Bellows translationTemplate:Sfn
{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	The seventh is Breithablik; Baldr has there For himself a dwelling set, In the land I know that lies so fair, And from evil fate is free.

GylfaginningEdit

In Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning, Breiðablik is described in a list of places in heaven, identified by some scholars as Asgard:Template:Sfn

Old Norse textTemplate:Sfn	Brodeur translationTemplate:Sfn
{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	Then there is also in that place the abode called Breidablik, and there is not in heaven a fairer dwelling.

Later in the work, when Snorri describes Baldr, he gives another description, citing Grímnismál, though he does not name the poem:

Old Norse textTemplate:Sfn	Brodeur translationTemplate:Sfn
{{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	He [Baldr] dwells in the place called Breidablik, which is in heaven; in that place may nothing unclean be...

Interpretation and discussionEdit

The name of Breiðablik has been noted to link with Baldr's attributes of light and beauty.Template:Sfn

Similarities have been drawn between the description of Breiðablik in Grímnismál and Heorot in Beowulf, which are both free of 'baleful runes' (Template:Langx and Template:Langx respectively). In Beowulf, the lack of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} refers to the absence of crimes being committed, and therefore both halls have been proposed to be sanctuaries.Template:Sfn

In popular cultureEdit

Breidablik is a sacred weapon in Fire Emblem Heroes that the Summoner uses to summon Heroes coming from different Fire Emblem games.Template:Cn
In the PlayStation game Xenogears, Bledavik is the name of the capital city of the desert kingdom of Aveh on the Ignas continent.Template:Cn